Category: Translation Services

Translation skills

The first and foremost professional translation services skill is the effective use of both your language and your target language. This means you should have a thorough understanding of the terminology used in both languages and a high level of ability when transferring ideas between the two languages. These are the most fundamental skills but they go hand in hand with other strategic skills too.

A good translator does not simply transfer word by word between the two languages and that’s the translation task achieved but writing skills play an important role too.

A NAATI translation is done by a translator who has mastered the target language and possesses an unbeatable writing style. This sort of achievement is the making of an excellent translator.

Skills in subject matter

Honing in on subject matter that you believe you can master in two languages will put you above the rest. Subject matter knowledge means you understand the subject so that in your translation you are better equipped to convey the true meaning of the text and use appropriate terms to do so. This comes out as a far more convincing and forceful translation than simply rummaging around for appropriate words that you are unsure really fit the subject matter of the translation.

It might be amazing to imagine but there are some translators with virtually no understanding of subjects like law, business, medicine and engineering who take on detailed materials to translate and which even appear in print. To be thoroughly equipped to conduct a NAATI translation you must possess a high degree of expertise in one specialist area at least which should have been derived from first-hand experience in that field.

Many translation courses seem to omit this in translation degrees thus depriving the new translator of the expert voice that is so often is desired by professional translation services. So often it is found that specialist texts aren’t professionally translated to an expert standard which undermines the expertise of the translation industry.

In summary, in order to produce suitable translated texts to publication standard the translator has to have highly developed skills in the three core areas of writing, translation and subject matter knowledge.

Many countries these days are multicultural and multilingual but there may still be an expectation that new immigrants or visitors have to speak and understand the main language of that country. Some countries are guiltier of this than others. All the main English language nations, like the U.S. Britain, Canada (of course, Canada is supposed to be bilingual), Australia and New Zealand have a greater expectation that their immigrant population understands English.

This is far from being the situation. Many new immigrants, especially those who are refugees or family members who have come to live with younger immigrants, cannot speak English well or even at all. So how does the concerned professional, for instance in a hospital, cope with a situation when there is no interpreter or translator available?

One way around the problem of communication is for the hospital or other government agency which is providing services for non English speaking new immigrants to use a document translation services provide to prepare posters and leaflets in the main immigrant languages on what is available and what they have to do if they want to use the service.

All English language countries these days have a good number of professional translation services who can provide these sorts of services. In Australia, for instance, there are good translation services in Sydney and similar translation services in Melbourne, as well as all the other main centres in that country that are able and willing to offer translation services to meet the needs of patients who visit a doctor or a hospital.

There comes the point when a nurse or doctor just has to do their best when communicating with someone who doesn’t speak English and there is no-one around to help interpret. Sometimes an older person who has a health issue might bring along a younger relative to do the translation and this may seem a little strange for the health professional who is not used to dealing with anyone except the patient.

Talking slowly and clearly and using language that avoids technical terms and idiomatic expressions helps. It’s not that the patient is unintelligent, it’s just that English is a difficult language to learn and it’s often hard for the native English speaker to appreciate that the non English speaker is struggling to understand.

One must also be aware of cultural idiosyncrasies. Many non English speakers may seem to show their understanding by nodding their heads or smiling and saying “Yes” but really haven’t a clue what you are trying to say!

There are no easy solutions, but persistence and patience always helps. Try some open ended questions to test whether your patients really understand what you are saying or try writing a question in simple English on a piece of paper. It may be that the patient can understand written English more easily than the spoken version, especially if you speak with a regional accent.

A research company, JWT Amsterdam, went out to compare two translations of a recipe from ElaN translations and Google to see if there was any significant difference in understanding between the two different ways of the translating of a recipe. The first test used a human translator and the second test used an automated translation tool.

ElaN languages document translation services gave the research project the name of “Taste the Translation.” The video of the project shows a chef preparing the same Japanese recipe which was translated by human translators from ElaN’s team and another version of the recipe translated by the automated translation programme called Google Translate.

Google’s version of the recipe was definitely found to be more of a challenge for the chef to follow than the recipe translated by human translators. This project was first initiated last year but didn’t get a lot of attention outside of the Netherlands until it was taken on the festival circuit, where it won a bronze award at the Clio Awards. It also took the gold award in the category called consumer direct at the Epica Awards international event which was judged by advertising journalists in Berlin.

For ElaN and other businesses that offer translation like many translation services in Australia the aim isn’t to persuade people to use its online translator which is free but to educate visitors not to use any tool purported to be free for important translations that are more than a small number of words. It is far better to use a NAATI translation when needing document translation services for the Australian environment which guarantees reliability and accuracy when important information needs to be translated.

The true value of “Taste the Translation” is that it revealed just how important it is to use professional translation for documents where careful selection of words matters. By highlighting the flaws of Google translate it is a wake-up call for businesses who think they can get product information and advertising material translated into other languages by using cheap or free online services like Google Translate.

Professional translation services, wherever they are based, whether they are translation services in Sydney or any other city in Australia, are always aware of any emerging new developments that can help them provide a better, more efficient service. Translators are well aware that if they don’t keep up with the trends in translation especially in translation related technology, that their competitors may do so, leaving them behind in the translation stakes.

Of course, any new developments in translation quality do not always mean a more accurate translation. Technological breakthroughs often address the question of speed rather than accuracy. Here in Australia, the bulk of translation work is done by those who have achieved NAATI translation accreditation and it is not a standard that the average translator is willing to lose because they have leaned to a new technology that appears at first sight to mean faster work and therefore more work and higher returns.

So, what were the main trends in translation in 2015 that got the industry talking and thinking?

The two main trends are both technology based, as might be expected.

The growth in demand for cloud based translation tools is probably the most significant trend throughout the year. Cloud services have become one of the most important services for small businesses or freelancers who either can’t afford or haven’t got the expertise or confidence to use tools themselves. Cloud based translation software is available at a very reasonable cost to translators anywhere and provided by a number of key companies.

One of these companies, Memsource, reported a 93% satisfaction rating from its 30,000 users. Significantly, the number of these users and the number of translated words has increased this year and this trend is unlikely to stagnate any time soon.

The second main trend this year is the increase in the use of machine translation or MT. MT has played a somewhat controversial role in professional translation services because some view it as a poor substitute for human translation. However, the reality is that most of the demand for MT this year, according to figures made available, show that it is professional translators themselves who are looking to use the software. Far from being a substitute for human translation quality, the idea is to speed up translation in a relatively raw form and then pass this over to human translators who post edit the text and proofread any mistakes that the software inevitably produces.

Businesses that are new to needing translated documents, texts and websites become impatient when they learn just how apparently slow good quality document translation services take. They may then make the ultimate mistake of opting for machine or automatic translation which is certainly far faster, but without human intervention prone to errors of many kinds.

Let us examine the speed issue. Professional translators, for instance Australia’s NAATI translation service providers are likely to translate at an average speed of around 4 to 5 words a minute. Compare that to the professional typist who can process words 10 to 15 times as fast. So why is there such a yawning gap?

The answer is that the translation process is a multi step one. The professional translator may in fact spend considerable time at first communicating with a client to ensure that any particular style or grammatical, cultural and social nuances are noted. This has to be taken into account when calculating the overall time taken.

Next comes the actual translation itself. This is very rarely an easy, word for word, literal process. The translator has to read through the text to be translated, absorb the meaning and then translate the meaning in the best way he or she can taking into account exactly who it is intended for. This may very well mean changing words and expressions which have a meaning in the original language but are meaningless when literally translated into the target language. It may take time to research and find expressions and vocabulary that suits the context of the document or text to be translated. This all takes time and this becomes part of the overall project.

Next comes editing. This is usually done by the translator and is basically a process which involves reading through the document or text thoroughly and slowly to make sure it will be understood perfectly by the person who it is intended for.

Last but not least, there is proofreading. This simply can’t be overlooked. To be honest, any document that has been typed onto a computer also has to be proofread but the proofreading process in a translation task by necessity has to be more careful and thorough. It may in fact be repeated more than once to get a perfect translation outcome.

Globalisation has lead to banks and companies establishing their offices and even their headquarters in many places throughout the world. This means that any documents related to their business have to be translated into the languages of the countries they either base themselves in or do business in. If your company is a German company and you want to conduct business with an Australian company there are translation services in Australia based all around the country. In fact every major city will have its own translation services.

Overall, there is a tendency for conferences and other meetings to adopt English as the main language for communication but there are always times when a translation is required, especially if some of the key business players are not fluent in English.

Translators do have a plan when performing document translation services for companies or financial institutions which involve specialised techniques and rules.

Techniques for a Financial Translation

The starting point for a translator working for translation services in Brisbane or any other major city is having experience in translating for financial institutions as banking terminology is specific and the translation must be correct. Depending on the audience for the translation it may be necessary for the translator to translate complex terms into an easily readable form.

As a financial translation often involves numbers and finer details it is crucial that the translator who is working for document translator services makes no mistakes when it comes to these details.

It is essential with any financial document that the translator reads it carefully before starting the translation. Understanding the overall document will mean the translator will be quicker at finding appropriate words throughout the translation process.

A good financial translator will not allow any mistakes at all and this is what financial institutions expect. Institutions such as the United Nations Federal Credit Union and the World Bank are prestigious financial institutions and will pay highly for a good translator who makes no mistakes. Large well known industries such as MacDonald’s fast food restaurants need translators who understand their product and can translate it appropriately into the languages of their customers which are spread across the globe and English is not their first language.

This applies to international companies as well as they expect translations to be perfect. The same rules apply, because we are usually talking about important brands that have headquarters all over the world. Take the example of a Chinese company that has headquarters in France. As an extremely bureaucratic country, France will require a lot of paperwork, which eventually will need translation. In this case as well, the lack of attention to details or a misunderstanding can cause confusions among the members of the company. The translator will have to be very professional and check his work carefully before submitting it. In this case as well, the pay check will be high, so the work must be done perfectly.

In conclusion, the most important translation techniques in the financial industry are the background knowledge, the attention to details and the ability to be organised. Communication with your employer is also important in certain cases such as ambiguities of the language. The work of a translator in this sector is really difficult, but it is one of the fields that will give you the certainty that the long hours of work will be paid off.

Manufacturers who produce cheap, copied merchandise don’t usually invest much in professional language translations but they still run the risk of being sued if instructions are misinterpreted and a customer is injured.

For a business to accurately get their product information translated a well qualified and certified reputable or professional language translation services Australia can offer a NAATI translation service which is the accreditation given to approved translation companies in Australia. This includes professional translation services that offer specialized legal and medical translators who know how to use the different vocabulary required for these disciplines as well as providing industrial, academic and technical translators.

Providing an accurate language translation is of great importance for a business to be effective in its promotional campaigns and it ensures that errors are avoided and communication is clear.

What you must do is ask your chosen translator to provide proof of their competence in the language or languages that you wish to market your product. This means in Australia asking for NAATI credentials as this provides quality assurance. You should also ask how the translation company ensures that the translation provided is of indisputable quality. You may have to pay a little more for that quality assurance but it’s worth it if it means your business grows as you are able to reach more customers.

If it’s your first step into the global world you want to ensure you look good. The best way to mar your reputation as a provider of a product is to get the product specs poorly translated by using an unreliable online machine translator so that your target audience has virtually no idea what your product is. You have to have some certainty that your chosen language translator doesn’t let you down and this can be difficult, particularly if you have no knowledge of your targeted languages.

This is where a country like Australia can provide quality assurance because they provide NAATI accreditation for those translation companies that reach the required standard. You have to research in your own country for translation companies that have been accredited in a similar way to translation services in Australia so that you have peace of mind that your product message comes across effectively.

The translation industry can sometimes sweep new entrants off their feet with all the jargon used in the industry such as “translation company”, “translation agency”, “localization agency”, as well as “Language Services Provider” (LSP).

Language Services Provider (LSP) is a term used for conference presentations as it basically goes beyond simply just translating, but it implies other services related to translation, such as oral and written translations.

Interpreters and desktop publishers who are multilingual, website and software translation are all part of the services provided by a translation agency which can also be called a Localization Agency, Globalization Services Provider and Language Service Provider. A translation agency provides professional translation services such as a NAATI translation in Australia. NAATI is the officially accredited accreditation authority for a translation agency that provides high quality translation services Australia.

You may be wondering what the word “translation” really means. Quite simply, it means the communication of one language text into another language where the true meaning of the source text is maintained. This translation is undertaken by a single translator or if the text requires multiple translation skills a translation team.

Copywriting, or put in another form, transcreation, performed by skilled transcreators copy write text into a target language, while a translator accurately translates the required content into the target language. Multilingual assignments that require persuasive or marketing text may require copywriting as in certain situations translated text may need to be rewritten so that the message is more persuasive, accurate and appropriate to the targeted culture.

Localization as defined by the Localization Industry Standards Association is the taking of a product and ensuring it is culturally and linguistically appropriate to the target region or country where the product is to be marketed.

Translation Memory is a very important translation product as it is memory technology that permits translation services in Australia to both store and reuse target language words and terms for all types of translation projects. Translation teams make use of tools for translation memory that create and maintain translation memories as well as multilingual glossaries.

If companies and even smaller businesses want to sell their products to customers who speak Japanese not English it is sensible to use Japanese as the language tool. This is the only way that a marketing campaign is likely to be successful. Many Japanese speak English but they will react far more favourably to product marketing information if it is written in good Japanese. This means you will need to get a high quality Japanese translator who understands the correct use of keywords in the Japanese language that will attract the right Japanese customers.

Many important big spending clients prefer to see precise and detailed product information about products they may buy. They may consider it some guarantee they are purchasing a quality product they will like to see some information on the company’s website about the company itself and its mission statement. All this requires the use of a professional translation service in Australia that has the knowledge of business language and what a potential client wants to know.

In Australia, accreditation is given to translators who match certain requirements and this is called a NAATI translator who provides a NAATI translation for all types of clients whether on a freelance basis or through professional translation services. Translation services Australia offer high quality translators who are bilingual in many languages including Japanese.

A quality website translated by a professional translation service from English into Japanese will ensure that the message and content of the website will engage and attract a potential Japanese consumer. Globalisation is here to stay and with online marketing as the most effectve way to promote products on an international scale and a quality translation is one way one company can get the edge over another. Japan has one of the highest access rates to the Internet so is a potential market for online buying. A version of your website well translated into Japanese is an invaluable marketing tool that brings you up t close to a potential Japanese customer.

Quality is even more important when it comes to marketing products such as medicines and medical devices as misinterpretation through a poor translation could lead to all sorts of outcomes such as lawsuits if someone is injured because the directions for use of the medicine or device were poorly translated.

Many businesses now have the opportunity to expand their sales to a much wider international market than ever before. In many cases, international expansion is almost mandatory if a business is not to lose out to its competitors. When the expansion is to a country where a similar language and culture exists, then there is no reason to use any sort of professional translation services. However, there are potentially huge markets opening up in Asia and in that case, there will be a significant language barrier to overcome and effective and culturally appropriate translation will by necessity become one of the important ingredients in an effective overseas marketing strategy.

Many businesses are forced to think about the importance of translation too late – usually when their product does not fire up in the new market they are targeting, despite the demand being there. This is usually because the company hasn’t bothered to consider the fact that most consumers take notice of information that has been provided in their own language. What other tips might expansion minded businesses find useful?

Tip No 1: In-house translators are not always the cheapest option

Some businesses might be tempted to use their own staff as translators, known as “in- house” translators, but this is not necessarily a cheap or effective option. Professional translation services in Sydney, or any other city in Australia for that matter can be used whenever a translation project is needed, but there is no need to pay them when translation is not needed, or pay them holiday and sickness benefits and any other perk which must be paid to your own staff.

Tip No 2: When translation accuracy is critical use a professional translation service

Many professional translators belong to an officially recognised organisation like the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI). Using a NAATI translation service is a guarantee that the translation will be done correctly and efficiently. When your business expansion depends on official document translation, for example when negotiating with overseas government agencies licences and rights to operate as a business.

Tip No 3: Avoid over reliance on machine translation

Machine translation or automatic translation has its place in the overall scheme of things, but is best left to translators themselves. Good translators will use computer aided translation tools to reduce their workload, especially when they do a lot of work for the same company and many of the documents they translate are repetitive. The temptation for some businesses is to use an online or automatic machine translation themselves without considering that it has to be part of an overall translation project and not an absolute substitute for human translation. Over reliance on MT will result in clumsily worded phrases, even gibberish at times, cultural insensitivities and end in negative sales growth in that particular market.

There are many other tips which can help companies aiming to expand their business away from home. They all boil down to the same main message which is that using a professional translation service is a wise investment in future business growth and not a waste of resources.